A Violet-Eyed Witch
by DragonGodElle
Summary: Charm escapes from slavery and ends up as a stowaway on the Going Merry. After being caught, she accepts Luffy's offer to join the crew.


**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

Charm ran along the Red Line, jagged rock biting into her feet with each step. She knew without looking that they would be torn and bloody. She had been running for days. Every once in a while she staggered, barely managing to catch herself. But she had to keep running. She couldn't tell how far she'd traveled, but she figured she should be at least close to Reverse Mountain by now. Just as she thought this, she began to hear the rush of water. Ignoring the way her legs throbbed, she ran even faster. As the sound got louder, she allowed a breathless laugh to escape.

* * *

 _"She's been like this for a while now, I don't think she's waking up this time." A man said, gesturing to a body that appeared lifeless._

 _"You're probably right. Ha! Guess she ran out of lives."_

 _"What should we do with her?"_

 _"What do you think? Toss her out."_

 _The man obeyed, picking the woman up gently. He carried her a good distance away from the ornate buildings of Mariejois, so that they were almost out of sight due the the fog. When he got to the edge of the Red Line, he hesitated. There was a chance she'd still wake up... that it was just taking longer than usual for her to come back. Maybe it was just taking longer for her internal organs to reform after suffering such extensive damage. If that was the case, he couldn't just toss her out. Making up his mind, he turned away from the cliff, instead laying her on the ground carefully. He left her there, heading back towards the buildings. If she was still there the next time he came, he would toss her out then._

 _When Charm woke up, she was confused to see that she was outside. Her confusion gave way to fear as she realized exactly where she was. There were only two reasons for someone to be this close to the edge. They were either tossing someone out... or being tossed out. She shakily got to her feet, only to realize there was no one else around. Had they just left her there? Whoever it was wasn't about to tell someone that they failed to follow orders, which meant that there would be no one coming to dispose of her. No one coming after her. She could walk away and never look back. But it was probably better to run._

* * *

Charm wasn't sure what to do when she got to Reverse Mountain. As a Devil Fruit user, she couldn't just jump in and let the water take her into the Grand Line. No human could survive that anyway. A fishman might be able to, they were great swimmers. Charm knew several fishmen who would jump into the sea from the Red Line and swim to freedom if it weren't for the collars they had to wear. _'_ _Good thing its common practice to remove them from a body before tossing it out'_ Charm thought.

She sighed, preparing herself to wait for a ship to go by. It was hours before she saw one. Charm didn't mind, she had been expecting to wait for days. She quickly backed up, crouching low in the fog to make sure they didn't see her. She waited for the small caravel to reach the top and for its passengers to cheer as it began its descent. The throbbing in her legs had only gotten worse since she stopped running. _'This is going to hurt'_ she thought. And then she jumped.

Charm landed on the deck with a dull thud. Everyone seemed to be at the front of the ship, which was good. She quickly located the storage room, which luckily was the first door she tried. There were crates all over. Charm pushed some out from against the back wall and slipped behind them. It was as good as she could do right now. She finally let herself fall asleep, hoping that no one would find her.

Usopp entered the storage room, searching for the paint Luffy wanted. Luffy hadn't said why he needed the paint, only that Usopp should get the colors he used for the Jolly Roger. The task was easy enough, if Usopp could only remember where he put the stupid paint. Looking around some more he finally spotted the paint cans in the back next to some crates. The cans had originally slipped his notice because they were farther back then the crates. But against evil, the Great Usopp always prevails!

Usopp grabbed the paint cans and turned to leave the storage room, but then he wondered why the crates weren't against the wall. Was there something behind them? Usopp looked out of curiosity and screamed.

Because there was something behind them.

Then his scream got louder.

Because that something's eyes just snapped open.


End file.
